Heating furnace

ABSTRACT

A heating furnace includes a housing and a grill member disposed in the housing. The housing includes a base unit, a surrounding wall unit having a lower part disposed on the base unit, and an upper part, and a cover unit disposed on top of the surrounding wall unit. The surrounding wall unit includes a plurality of upright grating members that cooperate to confine a chamber. Each of the grating members has a pair of upright frame portions. The surrounding wall unit further includes a releasable interlocking unit provided on each adjacent pair of the upright frame portions of the grating members for releasably interconnecting the grating members. One of the grating members is provided with a door panel to permit access into the chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a heating furnace, more particularly to a heating furnace with a housing that can be assembled and disassembled with relative ease.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional heating furnace 1 is shown to comprise a housing with a metal grill member 14 disposed therein. The housing includes a base unit 11, a surrounding wall unit constructed from a frame unit 12 and a pair of upright grating members 13 (only one is shown in FIG. 2), and a cover unit 15. The base unit 11 includes a concave base plate 111, a handle 112 mounted on one side of the base plate 111, and a leg member 113 secured to the bottom side of the base plate 111 for supporting the latter on a ground surface. The frame unit 12 includes an annular lower frame member 121 secured to the base unit 11, an annular upper frame member 122 vertically spaced-apart from the lower frame member 121, and three angularly spaced-apart metal connecting bars 123 that interconnect the lower and upper frame members 121, 122. Each of the connecting bars 123 has an inner surface formed with a pair of L-shaped retainer plates 124 that are oriented in opposite directions and that cooperate with the inner surface of the respective connecting bar 123 to form a pair of insert grooves 125. The inner surface of a rear one of the connecting bars 123 is further formed with three vertically spaced-apart support blocks 126. Adjacent edges of the two front ones of the connecting bars 123 are formed with three vertically spaced-apart pairs of engaging notches 127. Each pair of engaging notches 127 is horizontally aligned with a corresponding one of the support blocks 126. Each of the grating members 13 has two upright edge portions, one of which is inserted into and is retained in one of the insert grooves 125 in the rear one of the connecting bars 123, the other one of which is inserted into and is retained in one of the insert grooves 125 in one of the front ones of the connecting bars 123. The grill member 14 has two lateral edge portions that engage a selected pair of the engaging notches 127, and is supported in a horizontal position in the housing by an aligned one of the support blocks 126. The cover unit 15 is dome-shaped, is mounted on top of the frame unit 12, and has a handle 151 mounted thereon.

[0005] The heating furnace 1 is adapted for burning a combustible (not shown) that is disposed therein for indoor heating purposes. The main disadvantage of the conventional heating furnace 1 resides in that the housing thereof consists of numerous components that make assembly and disassembly of the heating furnace 1 inconvenient to conduct.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a heating furnace with a housing that can be assembled and disassembled with relative ease.

[0007] According to the present invention, a heating furnace includes a housing and a grill member disposed in the housing. The housing includes abase unit, a surrounding wall unit having a lower part disposed on the base unit, and an upper part, and a cover unit disposed on top of the surrounding wall unit. The surrounding wall unit includes a plurality of upright grating members that cooperate to confine a chamber. Each of the grating members has a pair of upright frame portions. The surrounding wall unit further includes a releasable interlocking unit provided on each adjacent pair of the upright frame portions of the grating members for releasably interconnecting the grating members. One of the grating members is provided with a door panel to permit access into the chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional heating furnace;

[0010]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the conventional heating furnace of FIG. 1;

[0011]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a heating furnace according to the present invention;

[0012]FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the preferred embodiment; and

[0013]FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the connection between adjacent grating members of a surrounding wall unit of the preferred embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0014] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the preferred embodiment of a heating furnace according to the present invention is shown to comprise a housing with a grill member 4 disposed therein. The housing includes a base unit 2, a surrounding wall unit 3 and a cover unit 5.

[0015] The base unit 2 includes a tray 21 and a leg member 22 for supporting the tray 21 on a ground surface. The tray 21 includes a concave base plate 211, a looped wall part 212 that extends upwardly and that inclines radially and outwardly from a periphery of the base plate 211, a peripheral seat 213 that extends horizontally, radially and outwardly from a top edge of the looped wall part 212, and a peripheral rim 214 that extends upwardly from an outer peripheral edge of the peripheral seat 213. The peripheral rim 214 is formed with a plurality of first holes 215. The leg member 22 includes upper and lower metal rings 221, and four leg posts 222 connected to the metal rings 221.

[0016] The surrounding wall unit 3 in this embodiment is a cylindrical wall having a lower part that extends into the tray 21 of the base unit 2 and that is seated on the peripheral seat 213 of the tray 21. The surrounding wall unit 3 of this embodiment includes three upright grating members 31 that cooperate to confine a chamber 32. Each of the grating members 31 has a pair of upright frame portions 311. The surrounding wall unit 3 further includes a releasable interlocking unit provided on each adjacent pair of the upright frame portions 311 of the grating members 31 for releasably interconnecting the grating members 31. With further reference to FIG. 5, the releasable interlocking unit includes a pair of retaining sockets 312 formed at upper and lower ends of one of the upright frame portions 311 of each of the grating members 31, and a pair of retaining tongues 313 formed at upper and lower ends of the other one of the upright frame portions 311 of eachof the grating members 31. Each of the retaining sockets 312 defines an insert hole 315 therethrough. To assemble the surrounding wall unit 3, the retaining tongues 313 on one of the upright frame portions 31 of one of the grating members 31 are inserted into the insert holes 315 so as to engage removably the retaining sockets 312 on one of the upright frame portions 31 of an adjacent one of the grating members 31, thereby releasably interconnecting the grating members 31.

[0017] The lower part of the surrounding wall unit 3 is formed with a plurality of second holes 314 to be aligned with the first holes 215, respectively. As such, after the grating members 31 have been connected in sequence to form the surrounding wall unit 3, the surrounding wall unit 3 is mounted on the base unit 2 by seating the same on the peripheral seat 213 of the tray 21 of the base unit 2, by extending screws 6 through aligned ones of the first and second holes 215, 314, and by installing nuts 7 on the screw fasteners 6, respectively. The screws 6 and the nuts 7 constitute a set of screw fasteners for securing the lower part of the surrounding wall unit 3 to the peripheral rim 214 of the tray 21.

[0018] One of the grating members 31 is provided with a door panel 33 to permit access into the chamber 32. As such, a combustible (not shown), such as wood or charcoal, can be placed in the chamber 32 when the door panel 33 is opened. It can be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the surrounding wall unit 3 may be modified to include more than one door panel 33.

[0019] The grill member 4 is formed from crisscrossing heat-resistant metal rods 41, and has a peripheral portion supported by the peripheral seat 213 of the tray 21 so as to dispose the grill member 4 horizontally in the housing. The grill member 4 is used for placing the combustible (not shown) thereon, and cooperates with the tray 21 to form a receiving space 42 for collecting ash of the combustible in the chamber 32. Because the combustible is surrounded by the surrounding wall unit 3, safety can be ensured when the heating furnace of this invention is in use.

[0020] The cover unit 5 is disposed on top of the surrounding wall unit 3, and includes a dome-shaped top plate 51, and a handle 52 mounted on the top plate 51. The top plate 51 is formed with a downwardly extending peripheral rim 53 that is disposed to surround an upper part of the surrounding wall unit 3. Fasteners 54 are provided to secure the upper part of the surrounding wall unit 3 to the peripheral rim 53.

[0021] It has thus been shown that the housing of the heating furnace of this invention consists of a relatively small number of components that can be assembled and disassembled with ease and that have a relatively small packaging material requirement.

[0022] While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

I claim:
 1. A heating furnace comprising: a housing including a base unit, a surrounding wall unit having a lower part disposed on said base unit, and an upper part, said surrounding wall unit including a plurality of upright grating members that cooperate to confine a chamber, each of said grating members having a pair of upright frame portions, said surrounding wall unit further including a releasable interlocking unit provided on each adjacent pair of said upright frame portions of said grating members for releasably interconnecting said grating members, one of said grating members being provided with a door panel to permit access into said chamber, and a cover unit disposed on top of said surrounding wall unit; and a grill member disposed in said housing.
 2. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 1, wherein said releasable interlocking unit includes a retaining socket formed on one of said upright frame portions of one of said grating members, and a retaining tongue formed on one of said upright frame portions of another of said grating members, said retaining tongue being inserted into and engaging removably said retaining socket to interconnect releasably adjacent ones of said grating members.
 3. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 1, wherein said base unit includes a tray and a leg member for supporting said tray on a ground surface.
 4. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 3, wherein said tray includes: a concave base plate with a periphery; a looped wall part extending upwardly and inclining radially and outwardly from said periphery of said concave base plate, said concave base plate having a top edge; a peripheral seat that extends horizontally, radially and outwardly from said top edge of said looped wall part, said peripheral seat having an outer peripheral edge; and a peripheral rim that extends upwardly from said outer peripheral edge of said peripheral seat.
 5. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 4, wherein said lower part of said surrounding wall unit extends into said tray and is seated on said peripheral seat.
 6. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 5, further comprising a set of screw fasteners for securing said lower part of said surrounding wall unit to said peripheral rim.
 7. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 5, wherein said grill member is disposed horizontally in said housing and has a peripheral portion supported by said peripheral seat.
 8. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 4, wherein said leg member includes upper and lower rings, and a plurality of leg posts connected to said upper and lower rings.
 9. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 1, wherein said cover unit includes a dome-shaped top plate, and a handle mounted on said top plate.
 10. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 9, wherein said top plate is formed with a downwardly extending peripheral rim disposed to surround said upper part of said surrounding wall unit.
 11. The heating furnace as claimed in claim 10, further comprising a set of fasteners for securing said upper part of said surrounding wall unit to said peripheral rim. 